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Motorola to overhaul ROKR iTunes phone

updated 04:10 pm EST, Wed November 16, 2005

New ROKR phone in 2006

BusinessWeek reports that Motorola will introduce a in the first quarter--updated to address the main criticisms of the first release. The company also said the company would "rip a page out of Apple's playbook" and begin selling phones the day after announcing them -- rather than announcing them well in advance, as it has up to now, according Reuters. The company based the change, in part, losing the edge in a competitive industry and also said that economic times and sales have also improved, allowing the company to be more secretive about upcoming products. [updated]

Expect a phone with a 1 megapixel camera, a 3.5 millimeter earphone jack (same as the iPod uses), and enough storage capacity to hold 1,000 songs -- all capabilities Motorola has confirmed. The current phone's basic design will be replaced by a new enlcosure, which BusinessWeek sources say will be an elegant slider format. "We've learned a lot," says Motorola CEO Ed Zander. "We're definitely building on the ROKR experience." iTunes will likely be part of the package, though Motorola and Cingular haven't agreed to a lineup beyond December 31.

Motorola also would not say when it plans to follow its ROKR iTunes phone with new iTunes-based gadgets, but said it would put iTunes in other Motorola handsets at operators' requests, according to Reuters.

 
Previous Comments

Ripping a page out ?!?

11/16, 06:19pm reply

What are they talking about? Apple's pagebook includes a whole chapter on announcing something (anything) and then delivering it in 4 to 6 months. I want some of the crack they're smoking.

PeteWK

Senior User

Joined: Jan 2001

0

Available tomorrow?

11/16, 10:42pm reply

So since Moto has changed their announcement policy, I take it that the ROKR Mk II will be in stores tomorrow. Wow! That was a quick development cycle. It's like they've got it shipping out the door no sooner than they realised the first one sucked lemons.

It's good to see Moto so incredibly responsive to customer criticism.

beeble

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2004

0

test

12/02, 01:44pm reply

test

Synthetic

Administrator

Joined: Mar 2005

0

testing again

12/02, 01:47pm reply

think i got it this time.

Synthetic

Administrator

Joined: Mar 2005

0

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